Texas Issue Alert - Opportunity to create 374,000 new American Jobs :: Hispanic Alliance for Prosperity Institute

Texas Issue Alert - Opportunity to create 374,000 new American Jobs

Posted On: September 22, 2011

How can you get involved?

The public comment period will end Oct. 9 and will include nine public meetings in the states affected by Keystone XL and in Washington, D.C. (See schedule) During this period, you have an opportunity to provide comment at the nine public meetings or by writing the Department of State.

Write the Department of State.

Click here to contact the Department of State and tell them America needs to reduce oil imports from the Middle East! Note: In order for comments to be considered by the DOS, they must be submitted no later than

October 9, 2011.

Attend and Testify at a Public Meeting.

All members of the public are welcome to attend the meetings and state their comments for the administrative record. Persons who want to speak at the meeting will need to sign up in person at the entrance of each of the venues. Click this post for more details and for hearing locations.

Canada has always been an important supplier of resources to America. In fact, Canada is the single largest source of our imported oil. But there is an opportunity to access even more oil that Canada wants to sell to the U.S. and replace imports from unfriendly countries.

Gas prices are a key concern to our economic well-being, but we also need to worry about the countries we rely on for oil. Currently America relies too much on the Middle East, Nigeria, Angola, and South American dictator Hugo Chavez for our oil supply. Increasing our oil supply from a friendly neighbor like Canada will have positive effects on our nation's energy security. The construction of the Keystone XL pipeline will help accomplish that goal by dramatically increasing oil imports sands from Canada to American refineries.

The federal government must take action to allow the building of the Keystone XL pipeline to get Canadian oil sands to American refineries; however, the Obama administration has been delaying the construction of the pipeline since 2008. Fortunately, the State Department is in the final stages of determining whether to approve a permit for the pipeline.

If America passes up this opportunity to build the pipeline, Canada will find another market for its oil, and the thousands of refinery, construction and related jobs that go with it.

Almost 1,000 U.S. companies in 47 states are suppliers of materials, equipment, or services to support Canadian oil sands production. According to the Canadian Energy Research Institute, the development of oil sands in Canada will have an economic impact leading to more than 342,000 new American jobs in the next five years and add $34 billion to U.S. gross domestic product in 2015. The infrastructure to transport Canadian oil to the U.S. will also mean more tax revenue for state and local governments to fund critical services.

Keystone XL and the U.S. Regulatory Process: What You Need to Know

On August 26, the U.S. Department of State (DOS) issued its Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) on the proposed Keystone XL pipeline project.

With the release of the FEIS, the DOS launched a comment period during which the public will have a final opportunity to declare their support or opposition to the project. DOS also announced the start of a 90-day National Interest Determination period, when federal agencies get their last chance to provide comment to the DOS.

The DOS has confirmed that it expects to make a decision on Keystone XL before the end of the year, bringing to an end an exhaustive, three-year federal review of the project. (Keystone XL was approved in Canada in 2010.)

Successive regulatory reviews and assessments have repeatedly affirmed that Keystone XL will not have any significant negative impacts. The recently released FEIS once again affirms that fact.

TransCanada looks forward to the end of this regulatory process and is hopeful it can count on its partners, allies and friends to participate during the upcoming public comment period.

How You Can Participate

The public comment period will end Oct. 9 and will include nine public meetings in the states affected by Keystone XL and in Washington, D.C. (See schedule below.) During this period, you have an opportunity to provide comment at the nine public meetings or in a number of other ways, as follows:

Click here to contact the Department of State and tell them America needs to reduce oil imports from the Middle East!

Note: In order for comments to be considered by the DOS, they must be submitted no later than October 9, 2011.

Schedule of Public Meetings:

Monday September 26, 2011

Bob Bowers Civic Center 3401 Cultural Center Drive Port Arthur, Texas 77642 4:30 pm – 10 pm

Kansas Expo Center 1 Expocenter Drive Topeka, Kansas 66612 12:00pm – 3:30pm, 4:00pm – 8:00pm

Tuesday September 27, 2011

Dawson Community College Toepke Center Auditorium 300 Community Drive Glendive, Montana 59330 4:30 pm – 10:00 pm

Pershing Center 226 Centennial Mall South Lincoln, Nebraska 68508 12:00pm – 3:30pm, 4:00pm – 8:00pm

Wednesday September 28, 2011

University of Texas Lady Bird Johnson Auditorium 2313 Red River Street Austin, Texas 78705 12:00pm – 3:30pm, 4:00pm – 8:00pm

Thursday September 29, 2011

Best Western Ramkota 920 West Sioux Avenue, Pierre, South Dakota 57501 12:00pm – 3:30pm, 4:00pm – 8:00pm

West Holt High School (in the Sand Hills region) 100 N. Main Street Atkinson, Nebraska 68713 4:30 pm – 10 pm

Friday September 30, 2011

Reed Center Exhibition Hall 5800 Will Rogers Road Midwest City, Oklahoma 73110 12:00pm – 3:30pm, 4:00pm – 8:00pm

Friday October 7, 2011

Washington, District of Columbia To be announced via website and public notice

Why You Should Support Keystone XL: It’s in the National Interest

TransCanada appreciates the support it has received to date but realizes it still faces challenges as it nears the end of the regulatory review process. As such, we hope we can count on our supporters to add their voice to the public record.

In the coming days, Keystone will be doing all it can to encourage supporters to participate in the public comment period and declare that the project is in the national interest. We are reaching out to all of our friends, partners and allies, including you, to urge the Obama Administration to approve Keystone XL.

We believe Keystone XL is in the national interest, for many reasons. Consider, for instance:

• Keystone XL will inject $20 billion into the U.S. economy.

• Keystone XL will create 20,000 family supporting jobs – 13,000 in construction and 7,000 in manufacturing.

• Keystone XL will create more than 118,000 spin-off jobs.

• Keystone XL will increase Americans’ personal income by $6.5 billion.

• Keystone XL will lead to more than $585 million in state and local taxes along the pipeline route.

• Keystone XL will pay property taxes of $5 billion over the lifetime of the project, allowing counties to invest in new schools, roads and hospitals.

• The U.S. has a simple choice: receive more oil from a secure, stable and longstanding friendly neighbor, which is Canada, or get its oil from volatile, unstable regimes overseas that are not friendly and do not share the interests and values of Americans.

• Keystone XL can reduce America’s dependence on oil from Venezuela and the Middle East by up to 40 per cent.

• Keystone XL is proposing to provide up to 25 per cent of its capacity, or almost 100 million barrels per year, to move U.S.-produced crude oil – providing new access to market for U.S. oil that’s currently bottlenecked due to the current lack of pipeline infrastructure.

• Keystone XL is shovel-ready. TransCanada is poised to put 20,000 Americans to work to construct the pipeline – including pipefitters, welders, mechanics, electricians, heavy equipment operators, among others.

About Keystone XL and the Public Comment Process

For more information about Keystone XL, please visit: www.transcanada.com/keystone

As well, the DOS has posted a comprehensive description of the proposed Keystone XL and information about the public meetings at: www.keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov

Tagged with: Energy, jobs